Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
Parallel translations
- WEB I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- KJV And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.
- NKJV Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lord God.”
- NASB So I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ ” declares the Lord God.
- NLT And I will make the land desolate because my people have been unfaithful to me. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God will make the land desolate because of the people's unfaithfulness ('trespass'). Covenant betrayal brings ruin.
Overview
The oracle ends by naming the cause: a 'trespass,' a term for treacherous covenant breach, often involving idolatry. The land's desolation is the just consequence of spiritual infidelity. This sets the stage for chapter 16, which exposes that unfaithfulness in vivid, extended detail.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Ezek 6:14I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’”
- 2 Chr 36:14–16Furthermore, all the leaders of the priests and the people multiplied their unfaithful deeds, following all the abominations of the nations, and they defiled the house of the LORD, which He had consecrated in Jerusalem.
- Ezek 17:20I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me.
- Isa 24:3–12The earth will be utterly laid waste and thoroughly plundered. For the LORD has spoken this word.
- Isa 6:11Then I asked: “How long, O Lord?” And He replied: “Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left unoccupied and the land is desolate and ravaged,
- Zeph 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He will make a sudden end of all who dwell on the earth.
- Ezek 33:29Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land a desolate waste because of all the abominations they have committed.’
- Ezek 14:13–21“Son of man, if a land sins against Me by acting unfaithfully, and I stretch out My hand against it to cut off its supply of food, to send famine upon it, and to cut off from it both man and beast,
- Jer 25:10–11Moreover, I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of the bride and bridegroom, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.
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Christ at the center
The promise of one Shepherd-King David, a new heart and new Spirit, and the river of life flowing from the temple all stream toward Christ, the good Shepherd who gives the Spirit.
How Ezekiel 15:8 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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